


Hot Tip (the when you talk I just watch your mouth remix)

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bondage, Dominance, M/M, Police, Sexual Roleplay, Spanking, Uniform Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-04-04 06:22:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4128136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>This bar was new to Hakkai, but it was quite pleasant, the patrons well-behaved, the beer cool and crisp. There were even microbrews from back in New York, though he decided not to risk those particular memories with a taste. He found a booth near the back and sat alone, pretending to himself that he might find someone tonight, that he could send someone a drink and act like a normal adult.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Then Officer Sha walked through the door.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hot Tip (the when you talk I just watch your mouth remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [opalmatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Nailed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/221426) by [opalmatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/pseuds/opalmatrix). 



> Thanks to my beta, and it was a pleasure to remix something by Opalmatrix!

Cho Hakkai had come to Chicago with a stack of blood-stained fifty-dollar bills and a plan. Find a nice place in Chinatown with reasonable rent and a landlord who wouldn't ask too many questions, a temple with an old, crusty priest who gave him sage advice and would help him work toward redemption, keep his head down, stay quiet, stay out of trouble. Instead, he was in Evanstown, with a local priest scarcely older than he was who chain-smoked and was rumored to be involved with a local high school student.

This had not been Hakkai's plan. The store was a tiny little hole in the wall, though the pharmacy had been a success almost from the start, and the landlord (landlady? His name was gender neutral and he changed looks almost daily) asked far too many questions and flirted with him shamelessly.

The customers asked for things that were illegal at best and reprehensible at worst, and he smiled at them with his most neutral mask and denied, evaded, and sometimes flat-out lied. The priest came to him for cough syrup--chain smoking had its costs--and sometimes they would eat together. Hakkai cooked, and they would go out on the fire escape to eat, Sanzo smoking over the railing, complaining about the locals and whatever else came to mind.

In fall, the nightmares had started, and everything that hadn't been part of his plan started making an appearance. The demands of his customers and the pleasant routine of hot pot eaten on folding chairs didn't help with the thoughts that haunted him at five a.m., or the ghostly fingers he felt on the back of his neck as he was sliding into sleep.

By the winter, the memories were complicated with desire. He'd thought he'd never want to have sex again, but the craving was back, an old enemy as much as an old friend. But there had been no woman, no man, that could compete with his memories. Not even Sanzo, who was as delicate and high-maintenance as an orchid. Besides, it wouldn't do to complicate his only friendship any further.

The business built steadily, though he had a few awkward run-ins with the Local Boys and a few other offshoots from Chicago. But he was no stranger to violence. It was easy enough to play their game and easy enough to play them to a draw. That brought a bit more attention to his operations than he had expected. More troublingly, it had brought him Officer Sha.

Sha was a little taller than Hakkai. He had short red hair, just visible under his cap, and dark, intelligent eyes with long, lush eyelashes. His face was angular, his cheekbones sharp, and he looked at Hakkai and then right through him. Hakkai felt exposed every time Sha's elegant mouth quirked.

For the weeks that Sha investigated the pharmacy, Hakkai's dreams were haunted by something different. He wondered what Officer Sha did in his spare time. What his big, muscular arms would feel like around Hakkai's waist, what his strong hands would feel like on Hakkai's body. It was easier than fighting his ghosts and thinking about _her._ Instead, he thought of telling Officer Sha his sins. Everything. Letting Sha strip him down. Cuff him to the bed and spread his legs wide. Let Sha take everything.

_Actually, Officer Sha, I haven't been complicit in the illegal prescriptions at all. The last time the Local Boys stopped by I broke the leader's arm and told him the next time I would feed him his own liver. And back in New York ..._

Desire rippled through him every time he saw the officer, that blue uniform setting off his red hair. But Hakkai wasn't stupid. He kept to his normal routines, went to work, didn't make waves. Didn't say a word out of place. As far as Officer Sha knew, he was just an ordinary pharmacist with a specialty in Chinese medicine. Nothing more.

"Why wouldn't you just fuck him?" Sanzo said, lighting a second cigarette off the first. "You can't be the only suspect who got the hots over some dick in a uniform."

"Because," Hakkai said. "I have enough complications in my life. And I suspect if I'm not careful I'll make this into a complication."

"There's not much you can't," Sanzo said. Sanzo knew, better than anyone else living, how Hakkai could create complications.

"Would you like some more beef?"

Sanzo shook his head. "No, I'm fine." He picked up his mug of tea. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to let them finish their investigation," Hakkai said. "The problem will solve itself."

Sanzo smirked. "Whatever you say."

Hakkai closed his eyes and leaned his head back against his chair. He let the smell of the hot pot and Sanzo's Marlboros drown out any further thought.

 

By June, he was able to raise his head enough to take an interest in the rest of the city. He spent hours wandering the streets on his day off. Once he took the L to Chicago. He even braved a few movies and found that he could deal better with fictional sorrows and stresses than his memories. The Alvarado became a regular destination, though he could never convince Sanzo to accompany him. Watching movies alone in the dark had its own solace, and he often stopped by one of the local bars to watch the people as they passed by. He told himself that he was researching his next generation of patients, but he was really just watching. Envying the young people around him their lives, their freedoms, their memories free of melancholy.

Though of course, they too might have been playing a role. Still, he found comfort in pretending.

This bar was new to Hakkai, but it was quite pleasant, the patrons well-behaved, the beer cool and crisp. There were even microbrews from back in New York, though he decided not to risk those particular memories with a taste. He found a booth near the back and sat alone, pretending to himself that he might find someone tonight, that he could send someone a drink and act like a normal adult.

Then Officer Sha walked through the door.

Without a cap, his short red hair caught the light and set off his angular features. He was dressed simply, in a t-shirt that showed off his muscular chest and a pair of jeans that hugged his ass. He slid onto a bar stool, had a drink, and chatted up an attractive woman at the bar who clearly had no interest in him.

Hakkai knew the wisest course of action would simply be to leave, and he silently told himself he'd do just that as soon as his drink was finished. It took him a bit longer to finish than he'd expected. By then, Gojyo had finished his conversation and was drinking alone.

"You want another?" his waitress asked.

"I...I suppose so, yes. And might you send a bottle of Brooklyn Lager to the gentleman at the bar?"

The girl looked. "Gojyo, with the red hair?"

"Yes." That had been his name. "Please."

"You got it," she said, with a grin. "He's a real sweetheart, you know. Be nice to him."

"I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise," Hakkai said, which was mostly true.

He watched as Sha-- _Gojyo--_ spoke with the bartender, laughing with her, and took the beer. He couldn't quite put a name to the relief he felt as Gojyo raised the glass to his lips, but he certainly knew how to identify the sensation that ran through his body as he watched the man drink. He bit his lower lip.

The bartender pointed. Hakkai wondered if Sha could see him. He slid a little further into the booth. He took another sip of his drink. Maybe it would be best if Officer Sha didn't come back here, anyway. He'd bought the drink on impulse, but--

"Doc Cho?"

"Ah," Hakkai said. "You do remember me." He plastered on what he had hoped was his most honest, innocent smile.

"Thanks for the beer," he said. "It ain't bad. Pretty good once you're used to it."

"I'm glad you enjoy it," he said. "Do sit down, Officer."

Gojyo shook his head. "Not here," he said. "Here I get away from all that. 'S Gojyo."

"Gojyo," he said, extending his hand over the table. "Then call me Hakkai. Please."

Gojyo's grip was solid. Strong. Gojyo slid into the other side of the booth, looking Hakkai and his drink over. "So," Gojyo said. "You...you come here a lot?"

"First time," Hakkai said. "I watched a movie, and this was convenient. It looked pleasant."

"Yeah, it's nice. You go to the Alvarado?"

Hakkai nodded. _"Lawrence of Arabia."_

"Never seen that one."

"It's excellent."

Gojyo glanced around at the bar. It was quiet at the moment, aside from the pounding music. "So how's the store?"

"It's good," he said. "Doing very well."

A faint light showed in Gojyo's eyes. "Keepin' your nose clean?"

"As honest as the day is long, I assure you. I've been a very good boy."

Goyo smirked at that. "Good to hear. So why'd you buy me this?" He swung the bottle in Hakkai's direction.

"It's good, isn't it? I thought you might enjoy it."

"Let me try this again," Gojyo said. "Why'd you buy _me_ this?"

A dozen possible answers danced in Hakkai's mind. He picked one almost at random. "Because I liked you, back when we met."

"I was there to arrest you."

Now it was Hakkai's turn to smile. "You didn't."

"I didn't have to," he said. "It ain't my job to just go around arresting people."

"You're good at it," Hakkai said. "Your job."

Gojyo just shrugged. "Well, I'm flattered, but I'm off-duty." He lifted the glass and took another long drink. Hakkai watched his neck work. "So," he said. "You just bought me a beer because I did a good job and didn't arrest you?"

"No," Hakkai confessed.

"So?" Gojyo put the glass to his lips again.

There was only one answer in Hakkai's mind this time. "I want you to come back. To my apartment."

Gojyo put the glass down, swallowed. Considered. "Did you just say...did you mean to say that?"

"I...I did," he said. He was hurtling down the road now, a sharp downhill with no brakes. _Alea iacta est,_ wasn't that the phrase. "I would like you to come to my apartment. In your uniform. I would like you to handcuff me and--" The words threatened to catch in his throat, but he pressed on--"And do what you'd like with me. Do you understand?"

Gojyo took a long time to answer. "Do you understand if I show up in uniform at the apartment so I can screw a criminal suspect, I'll be lucky if all I do is lose my job?"

"Of course," Hakkai said. His disappointment was edged with a ribbon of relief. After all, his life was complicated enough without getting involved with a man who had almost arrested him. His glass was almost empty. He could go home and--

"You could come to my place, though," Gojyo said. "If you wanted."

Hakkai was hard again. Maybe he'd been hard all along. "Could I?"

Gojyo's tongue darted out and moistened his lips. "Yeah. I can...I can give you the address."

"You'd trust me with your address?" Hakkai could see where the condensation met Gojyo's hand. He had big hands. They looked strong.

"You said you were being a good boy," Gojyo said. "Guess you can prove it." He reached across the table. "I'll put the address on your phone. If you want."

Hakkai took his phone out of his pocket and dropped it into Gojyo's palm. "The code is 0921." His birthday. Hers too.

Gojyo tapped the numbers in. Hakkai watched his hands. His nails were cut short, not torn, and meticulously clean. "Give me half an hour to clean it up," he said, handing the phone back. "I ain't picked up for company."

"Of course." Hakkai suppressed the shudder he felt when their hands touched.

It felt like an eternity waiting to finish his beer and call a taxi, though at least it let him stand without embarrassing himself. He asked the waitress--the one who'd told him to be nice to Gojyo--for a recommendation, and bought a bottle of Four Roses at the store on the corner. Gojyo lived a mile away, in a shabby but pleasant part of town. His apartment was a walk-up, on the second floor. Hakkai buzzed and waited.

"Hello?" Gojyo's voice was cold, professional. Hakkai put the bag over his crotch so he wouldn't embarrass himself.

"Mr.--Officer Sha?"

"You," was the answer. Cold. Hard. "Get up here."

The door unlocked, and he walked up the stairs. Two flights, first door on the right. He knocked. Gojyo opened the door in uniform, light shirt and tie, pens in his pocket, gun in holster. His face was stern. "Get in."

"Of course," Hakkai said, his trousers uncomfortably tight. He walked in.

Gojyo grabbed his arm, pulled him in. He was putting on an act, but it was a good one. "So what do you have to say for yourself, kid?"

"I--I'm turning myself in," he said.

"What'd you do?"

"Attempting to bribe an officer," he said, offering the bag sheepishly.

Gojyo took the bag and nodded at the bottle. "Expensive," he said. "You got a safeword?"

"What?"

"Safeword," Gojyo said. "I ain't interested in breaking your arm."

"Oh," Hakkai said. "Roses, I suppose." He smiled at that.

Gojyo put the bottle on the table. "The fuck are you wasting my time with this for? You think this is a joke, Cho?"

"No," Hakkai said, his mouth dry. "Not at all."

"Up against the wall," Gojyo said, and Hakkai hastened to obey.

"Not like that, genius," Gojyo spat, as Hakkai pressed his back to the wall. "Face it. Hands behind your head. _Now."_

Face the wall. Of course. Hakkai put his hands behind his head. He was _aching._ He briefly considered rubbing his erection against the wall, but he decided Gojyo wouldn't want that. Gojyo patted his ass, his waist--oh, a pat-down, of course. His cock was so hard, so painfully hard. Gojyo pulled his wallet and phone out. Hakkai could hear them landing, somewhere, maybe on the table. "Strip," Gojyo said. "From the waist up."

"What?"

"Now, asshole," Gojyo ordered. "You think I'm joking around or something? Take it off, the jacket, the tie, the shirt. _Move!"_

For a second, something in Hakkai balked, but it passed. This was what he'd asked for, right? What he wanted. He pulled his jacket off, then the tie, then his shirt, putting them on the chair next to Gojyo's table, where his wallet and phone and the bottle of bourbon were.

"Turn around again," Gojyo said. "Hands behind your back."

Hakkai turned. This time he did push into the wall, just a little, though it didn't help his aching cock in the slightest.

He heard the cuffs before he felt them clicking over his wrist. They'd had a safeword, right? His mind reached for it, faltered. Roses. Roses.

He didn't say it, though, not when Gojyo grabbed him by the cuffs and pulled him toward the bedroom. Gojyo's apartment was small enough that it wasn't much of a walk. "Takin' you in for questioning," he said.

"You won't be able to keep me," Hakkai stammered.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Gojyo's voice was rough. Anger? Arousal?

The bedroom was too small for anything but the bed. Gojyo slammed him down on the mattress and turned on a lamp next to the bed, a small gooseneck. He craned the neck so it was facing Hakkai, like an old-fashioned interrogation. "So," Gojyo said. "I know you've been offering bribes. What else?"

"I told you," Hakkai said, but it came out in a guilty rush. "I've done nothing. I've been very well-behaved."

"Like I'm gonna believe that." Gojyo adjusted the light so it was still brighter.

Hakkai felt his face heating. "It's the truth!"

Gojyo stood for a second, watching Hakkai, his eyes locked on Hakkai's face. Hakkai took the opportunity to look at Gojyo, at how he filled out the uniform, slender though he was. His shoulders were broad. Stomach, groin--he was hard too, Hakkai noticed--belt, gun, nightstick.

"Oh," Gojyo said, and Hakkai realized he'd kept his eyes on the nightstick for just a few seconds too long. "Mr. Nightstick caught your eye, huh?"

Hakkai's eyes flickered up to Gojyo's face, his elegant mouth. "You--you wouldn't," he stammered.

"Don't tell me what I wouldn't do, Doc," Gojyo said, and licked his lips. Oh. Oh God. What the hell had he gotten himself into? What was he doing?

Why did he want, so badly, to drop to his knees?

Gojyo pulled the nightstick free, and Hakkai no longer had room to think. It was old-fashioned, hardwood. "Open your mouth," he commanded. "Why don't you show me how much you like Mr. Nightstick?"

Hakkai parted his lips. It was hardly even a conscious act. Gojyo slid the club in, and Hakkai felt something break inside him. He sucked, he licked, he _needed._

"I could make it a lot worse than this," Gojyo said, his voice low, thick. "You want to talk?"

Hakkai closed his eyes and let the nightstick slide out of his mouth. "I don't have anything to tell you."

"Stand up, smart guy," Gojyo said, pulling the nightstick back and sliding it back into the holster. "Let's give you what you _really_ need."

_Yes, yes, please,_ Hakkai's treacherous mind thought. His feet were unsteady, but he still stood. He was hard, hard like he hadn't been in years.

Gojyo walked up to him, and pulled Hakkai's glasses off. He dropped them onto the bedside table. "But I--"

"Shut up," Gojyo said. "Hold still." He had a bandanna in his hands. He put them up to Hakkai's face. _No,_ Gojyo thought. _Roses._ But he didn't speak. He just closed his eyes. The bandanna smelled like soap.

"Good boy," Gojyo said, his voice firm. "Just stand there. No monkey business."

Hakkai felt Gojyo untie his shoes. "Now kick'em off," he commanded. "Carefully. Try any funny business, and you're gonna be sorry as hell." Then Gojyo pulled his belt free, unbuckled his trousers and unzipped his fly. Having his erection free helped, but not enough. Gojyo pulled down Hakkai's chinos, then his boxers. _God._

For a moment, nothing happened. "What--what are you doing?"

"Don't you wish you knew?" Gojyo's voice had lost a little of its authority, wavered a little. "Step out of your pants."

It was harder doing it blind, especially in an unfamiliar room.

"Get on the bed and lie down. On your face."

Right. Right. This was what he'd wanted, right? What he'd asked for. What his body, truth be told, was begging for.

It was hard to get onto the mattress without his arms. He had to move slowly, and even then he all but flopped on the mattress, like some kind of ridiculous fish. The pillow he landed on was fluffy; maybe too fluffy. Hakkai had to tip his head to make sure he could breathe.

Gojyo pulled the pillow out. "Lift your ass up," he commanded.

Hakkai pulled his knees up and Gojyo shoved the pillow underneath him. That was...not comfortable, precisely, but less uncomfortable than it had been.

And then nothing happened.

"Gojyo?" Hakkai managed to squeak, when he thought time had stopped entirely.

The answer was the nightstick, slamming into the mattress beside him. Hakkai flinched. "Officer Sha," Gojyo growled, and then something hit Hakkai's ass, hard and fast. Hakkai didn't know what it was, didn't care. His cock twitched. It hurt and it stung and it felt like everything he'd never dared ask for before, what he wouldn't even have confessed to himself he wanted. Hakkai closed his eyes, letting the sensations take him over. "You gonna talk?" Gojyo asked, and smacked him again.

"N-no," Hakkai stuttered, hoping against hope for another strike.

"All right," he said. "Let's show you I'm serious."

Hakkai could hear Gojyo count under his breath as he worked. _One, two, three..._ He stopped at twenty, and Hakkai wondered if it was possible for a man to die from sensation alone. He was dying to be touched, fucked, something, anything.

"Well?" Gojyo said. "You want some more?"

Hakkai honestly didn't know.

Gojyo smacked him again, a spot that was already sore, and the words started spilling out. "All right, all right, I'll talk! Just...I'll talk."

"So what you got to say?" Gojyo took the edge of...hell, whatever it was, and traced a thin line over Hakkai's ass. Hakkai wanted to move, but he didn't dare.

"Sparks Automotive," he panted, before his brain could set any brakes. "Back door. Wednesday night." The Local Boys deserved that, really. "Bring dogs."

"Now, see?" Hakkai could hear Gojyo scribbling, pencil over paper. "That wasn't so hard, right? You got a time?"

"Sunset, probably. Eight or so."

"All right," he said. More noises. What the...was he on the _fucking phone?_ Hakkai moaned, hoping Gojyo would get the hint.

"Just hold your fucking horses, Cho. I'll get to you in a second." Another swift tap on his ass, but this wasn't hard. Just a...reminder.

"Please," Hakkai said, not caring how he sounded, weak and desperate. "Please."

"Yeah," Gojyo said. He walked over to the bedside table, opened a drawer. "What do you want?"

"You know," Hakkai said. "I'll be good. Just--"

"You need it, don't you?"

"Yes," Hakkai said. "Yes."

His body was at an odd, uncomfortable angle. He'd ache in the morning. But right now, he didn't care. The ache in his cock was taking far more of his attention.

"Tell me," Gojyo said. "Tell me how much you want it."

"I...I want you. In me."

"How much?"

He couldn't even find the words. "So...so much. I need it. Please. Please."

"Yeah?"

Hakkai could only moan.

Gojyo's hands were on his body, sure, steady. His fingers were slick and they pressed into him. He wasn't gentle, but Hakkai didn't want that. He moaned again, harder, desperate. Please. _Please._ Did Gojyo have a condom on? Did Hakkai even care?

Gojyo slid into him, slow, steady, hard. Oh. Oh. He was big. Hakkai had known that all along, hadn't he? So thick, filling him, an aching, steady burn. Hakkai felt his fingernails digging into his palms. He wanted to clutch the sheets, but there was nothing he could do but clench his fists more tightly. But none of that mattered. The ache in his neck, the hard little crescents forming in his skin, the tight, hot pain on his cheeks; he registered every sensation, but they were nothing. Irrelevant noise, like static on the radio or a single snowflake in a blizzard.

What he had, what mattered, was Officer Sha's thick cock filling every inch of him, the burn driving him mad, Gojyo's cock hitting the hot sweet spot inside him with every hard, firm stroke. Hakkai cried out, and it was almost a sob. His eyes were wet. Had he truly needed this, this pain, pleasure, so much? His mouth moved against Gojyo's rough sheets, forming noises, not words.

Nothing remained of him but _need,_ fierce and relentless. He felt a sob escaping his body, and prayed Gojyo wouldn't notice, wouldn't stop. Wouldn't stop for anything.

"So fucking tight," he heard Gojyo say. "Fuck, I can't--"

Hakkai felt his own body thrusting against the mattress. He was desperate, aching for contact. His cock was burning. He needed something. Anything. Hakkai groaned, grunted.

"Fuck!" Gojyo's voice was rough and hard, and Hakkai felt the rough, painful end of his thrusts. Hakkai was still nothing but need, painfully hard. If Gojyo could just touch him, just the tiniest pressure on--

"You ready?" Gojyo asked. His voice was still a little unsteady.

Hakkai could only whimper.

"Yeah." Hakkai's reaction must have given Gojyo enough time to recover. His voice was once again hard with arrogance. "That's what I thought." His hand wrapped around Hakkai's cock, and Hakkai sobbed again with relief as he came, so hard it felt like everything in him was exploding.

He was still sobbing when he realized Gojyo's hand was on his cheek. "Hey," he said. "Hey, baby, don't start cryin' on me. You okay? Did you say the word? I thought--"

"I'm fine," Hakkai said into the mattress, using all his remaining strength to pull himself together. "I--would you please uncuff me?"

"Yeah, yeah," Gojyo said, and Hakkai could hear something rustling, then the jangle of keys. "There," he said, and Hakkai felt the tension release, his pained, bruised wrists finally registering, his ass burning inside and out. "Bathroom's right there off the bedroom."

Hakkai got up on his unsteady legs and walked into the bathroom.

Things got a bit blurry after that. Perhaps he'd gone too far. Perhaps they both had.

The knock at the door pulled him back to reality. "You okay in there?"

"I--I'm fine," he said. There was still blood on his wrists. "Do you have any bandages?"

Even after his wrists were perfectly in hand, Gojyo kept muttering under his breath about never using regulation handcuffs again, the importance of actually using one's safeword, and something Hakkai couldn't quite catch referring to 'badge bunnies.' 

"You're not calling me a...'bunny,' are you?"

"That's what my old partner used to say," Gojyo said, inspecting the bandages for the fifth or sixth time. "Mostly he meant girls. Liked the uniform."

"It does look...awfully good on you." It even looked good now, when he'd stripped down to his white t-shirt, his belt unbuckled.

"We're gonna get you some ice, too." Gojyo walked over to the freezer.

"I don't need--"

"Yeah, you can't see your ass. And I still ain't sure you didn't pass out in there."

"I'm certain I didn't."

"Whatever." Gojyo pulled out a....

"Is that a bear?" It looked like a terrycloth animal.

"Yeah, it's a Boo Boo Bear."

"Why do you have a...Boo Boo Bear?"

"For when I bring badge bunnies home and they do dumb shit like asking me to spank their ass." He tossed the bear over to Hakkai. "Now sit on that, and maybe I'll stop calling you names."

"You're too kind," Hakkai said wryly. But the bear did help when he rested it against his ass. It only really covered one cheek; he'd have to shift it after a while.

"Sit on it," Gojyo repeated. "You have to work in the morning, don't you?"

"I do," Hakkai conceded, and sat on it. The couch felt old and well-used. Now that his fever had broken, little details about Gojyo's apartment began to sink in. The battered couch. The magazines stashed in a pile near the shabby, overstuffed chair.

"Do you want something to drink? You should drink something, you're probably dehydrated."

"I'm fine," he said again. "But...do you have any tea?"

"Yeah," Gojyo said. "Tea sounds good."

Hakkai's wrists really weren't hurting much now. He had lost some skin, though. Gojyo was probably right about the handcuffs.

"Interesting thing I learned the other day," Gojyo said, as he fussed in the cupboards. "This girl over in the forensics lab, she was going through this dead guy's stuff--the neighbor hit him in the head with an umbrella stand, pretty open and shut, but you gotta look at everything, ya know?--anyway, she's going through his shit and she sees a bag of bear gall. And, you know, that shit's illegal."

"I'm well aware," Hakkai said, shifting again on Gojyo's couch so the springs wouldn't poke his bruises too much.

"So anyway, she tests it, because why not, right? I kind of think she does this shit for fun in her spare time...anyway. She tests it, and it's _synthetic_ bear gall. Which, like, who the hell does that?"

"I can't imagine," Hakkai said, carefully. "Why do you think anyone would do such a thing?"

"Well, that's like a popular thing in Chinese medicine, right? For impotence or whatever."

"Bile actually has...well. Anyway. Multiple uses." Perhaps it wouldn't do to show off too much knowledge on this particular topic.

"So someone's, like, scamming people, but not really, 'cause the chemistry's the same. Kind of interesting."

"Indeed," Hakkai said.

"But anyway. I figure she figures it out, other people might, ya know? I don't know what happens to people who try to pass off synthetic bear gall for the real shit."

"Well," Hakkai said. "Unfortunately, the demand for gall in this country is normally from endangered and protected animals. I suppose it presents an ethical challenge."

"Yeah," Gojyo said, walking back toward him. "Guess it does." He slid next to Hakkai on the couch. "You do this often?"

"No," Hakkai chuckled. "You?"

"Shit, I haven't been with a guy since I went into the Academy. Figured girls were easier."

Hakkai smiled. "Are they?"

"Depends on how you define 'easier,' I guess." He shot Hakkai a look. "What do you normally do after? I gotta get up in the morning, but I figure you do too, and your ass would probably be better off if you don't ride home."

"I...haven't had an 'after' in quite a while," he confessed. "I suppose I don't really have a normal."

"Then stay," he said. The kettle whistled, and he rose. "It ain't that late yet, anyway."

Hakkai glanced at the clock on Gojyo's microwave. It was blinking _12:00_. "What time is it?"

"Eleven last I looked, maybe eleven-thirty now? It ain't so late. We can talk a little before bed," he said, sitting next to Hakkai with two full mugs. "I mean, if you want to."

"You're kind, aren't you?" Hakkai asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gojyo leaned back into the couch, pressing his side against Hakkai's. "I just pounded the crap out of you with the swimsuit issue."

"Is _that_ what that was?" How many magazines did Gojyo own? Hakkai had already seen a stack in the living room. No _books,_ though. Wasn't it John Waters who said you shouldn't sleep with people who didn't own books? Maybe Gojyo had enough magazines to qualify on a technicality.

"Yeah," Gojyo said. "Last summer's. That was a good one. Body paint." He put a hand on Hakkai's thigh. "How's your ass?"

"Fine," he said. "The ice is helping."

"Is that why you're callin' me kind? Because I brought you ice?"

Hakkai chuckled. "I suppose. And you...you did as I asked."

Gojyo shrugged. "I guess I did."

"Kind," Hakkai repeated, and put his hand on Gojyo's. "I mean, you have no reason to trust me, really."

"You're the one who let me cuff you," he said. "Pretty easy after that." He nuzzled at Hakkai's neck. "I ain't gonna do that every time, though. I mean--if this is more than a one-time thing."

Was it? He.... "If that's what you'd like."

Gojyo pressed his lips to Hakkai's neck. "You know, after all that, you could at least admit you want me to."

Hakkai felt his chest clench for a moment. "I thought I had, I suppose."

"I'm a cop," he said. "We can't just go on assumptions. That ends bad."

"I'm aware," he said. "I...I have to confess. Not--not like what we did here. I left New York because I was accused of...well. I was acquitted, but if you look at my arrest record...."

"Everybody around here's done something," he said. "Don't worry about it."

"I did it," he said, closing his eyes. "I did it, and I'd do it again."

"Shut up," Gojyo said, into his neck. "You just stay here tonight. You don't have to tell me all your secrets."

"I know, but...I've held this to myself for a long time." It felt oddly liberating to tell someone. And he'd never trusted anyone like this since...since her. His lawyer certainly hadn't heard any of it.

"Drink your tea," Gojyo said. "You can tell me more tomorrow, if you gotta so bad, all right?"

"Are you afraid I'll ask for your secrets in return?"

Gojyo chuckled. Hakkai could feel it in Gojyo's chest. "Yeah, maybe."

"I won't," Hakkai said. "What you want to tell me, you can. But that's all."

Gojyo sat up, and Hakkai immediately missed his touch. "All right," he said. "That ain't so bad." He picked up his tea. "Shit, I'm up too late for a work night."

"Guess we both are." He lifted his own mug. The tea was decent enough, if you didn't mind a teabag from a supermarket brand. But he'd heated the water properly and the mug seemed reasonably clean. Acceptable, at any rate.

"Not sure how long you should be sittin' on that ice."

"Oh, yes," he said. "I probably should take a break."

Gojyo grinned and took another drink of tea. "I'll be the little spoon, I guess. You can put it back in place when we go to bed. Then you might not be too bad off in the morning."

He suspected he would be anyway. But he supposed he didn't mind. It was what he'd asked for.


End file.
